The Craziness

The last few days have been pretty insane.  Timothy and I (and Timothy's dad for a large portion of Saturday) focused on the house all weekend.  We stayed up too late and got up too early.  Sunday night we rested from our labors at my friend Marilyn's house.  She made us salmon chowder and rosemary bread and it was delicious!  I had forgotten that it was Oskar's first birthday the next day (Monday) until it was too late to make him a cake, so I showed up at Marilyn's door with a birthday present and asked if we could turn "dinner" into "birthday party."  She didn't mind.  Oskar blew out a candle on some yummy vanilla pudding (firm pudding) and looked around in confusion as a profusion of children and adults sang to him.  It was lovely to take a break.

On Monday we were back at it.  The realtor called and said we had our first showing the next day (which was today, Tuesday) so we had a deadline.  Fortunately, Timothy's sister, Amelia, came on Monday and painted the family room and closet doors.  I worked on painting the kids' rooms and when Timothy got home we tried to finish all the major things that seriously detract from the overall appearance of a house.  Timothy went to bed at 5:00 am and I went to bed at 6:00 am, only to get up and get going 90 minutes later.

I called Julie this morning and begged for help.  It was a good thing I did.  She came right over, sent Oskar to her house for her daughter to tend, and finished up the last of the major painting downstairs while I painted the trim in the boys' room.  When the painting was done I went upstairs and started cleaning the kitchen, Miriam cleaned the bathroom, Emeline straightened the bookshelf, Cowen loaded all the extra clutter into the van, and Julie "staged" the downstairs.  It pulled together beautifully despite not being totally finished.

When it was time for the house to be seen, I headed over to Julie's where she made us a yummy lunch and sent me to bed.  Heaven!  I slept for a few hours while the children played and then Julie fed us a lovely supper.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Now I'm home, the children are in bed, and the house is quiet and the cleanest it has been in ages.  It is a good feeling.  I need to go pull everything out of the van but then I'm going to bed.  The house can wait another day for me to get back to it.

Thanks again Amelia and Julie!!!!!